"Zero Dark Thirty" comes to theaters Friday with lots of anticipation - and lots of baggage.

The drama by Oscar winners Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal, about the hunt for and the killing of Osama bin Laden, is based on a true story. But it's also a movie, and, in these fractured times, it's also the focus of controversy - both because it shows U.S. interrogators using torture to get information, and because, some legislators charged last week, the CIA may have misled filmmakers by suggesting that torture was used at all. | Jan. 10, 2013»Read Full Article(1)

There is some mighty foul language in this week's new singles on iTunes, primarily from Lil Wayne (surprise, surprise). I've got a rundown of reviews below, and have embedded videos from YouTube where possible, but by all means, do not play the Wayne, Ferg or Fabolous tracks at work.

L.A.-based Family of the Year is no stranger to Wisconsin, having played the state a number of times over the past few years. But its becoming less of a stranger to Wisconsin concertgoers. | Jan. 23, 2013»Read Full Blog Post(1)

The America’s Got Talent Live: All-Stars Tour date at the Riverside Theater Feb. 15, to be hosted by Jerry Springer and headlined by last season’s winner the Olate Dogs, has been canceled “due to unforeseen circumstances beyond the control of the Riverside Theater,” the venue announced Thursday.

An Italian-style deli will open at the front of 218 N. Water St., the former Nuovo Centanni piano bar, and a speakeasy will be installed at the back of the space.

Centanni, a SURG Restaurant Group property, closed in October. Around late March, the group will replace it with Giovanni's Italian Deli, featuring cured meats made by the staff, and with Bugsy's Back Alley Saloon. Bar guests would be buzzed in from the deli or the alley, said Mike Polaski, a SURG partner. | Jan. 23, 2013»Read Full Blog Post

The Electric Daisy Carnival, the leading electronic dance music festival in the U.S., has grown with the recent explosion in EDM, expanding from a one-day event in Southern California to multiple events in Texas, Puerto Rico, Florida, New Jersey and its premiere event in Las Vegas, which attracted more than 300,000 people last year.

Some of the remodeling involved unearthing original features such as a hardwood floor; some of it was modern additions, such as the contemporary grid of windows across the front of the building. | Jan. 23, 2013»Read Full Blog Post(3)

Hopefully any Wisconsin country music fans who were eager to party with the biggest stars this summer at Country Thunder were thinking way ahead and already purchased their tickets. The annual four-day country music festival in Twin Lakes is already sold out six months in advance of its July 18-21 run, event organizers announced Tuesday. In addition to all multi-day passes already being gobbled up, no single day tickets will be available either.

One of a large number of country festivals across Wisconsin each summer, Country Thunder has grown in recent years to draw fans from across the nation to camp out in Southeastern Wisconsin and see a lineup of some of the genre's biggest stars. Last year's festival attendance topped 33,000. That was also a sell out, but one that only came days before the festival began. | Jan. 23, 2013»Read Full Blog Post(2)

A rootsy band from Stillwater, N.J., with a name inspired by a poem of "gritty substance" by Jack Kerouac, plays tonight at Turner Hall. Railroad Earth has been described as bluegrass, rock, folk, Celtic, Americana and a whole bunch of other things. This salt-of-the-Earth band plays at 7 p.m.

Goodness knows, many of us could use a little retouching. And local artist Stephanie Bartz is just the person to put a soft focus on our lives. OK, our visages. Still, nab a professional headshot and proofs for $75. It happens today and space is limited. Call (414) 453-2060 or email heybartzie@tds.net as soon as possible to make it happen. You'll need a few colored shirts. Nothing white. | Jan. 23, 2013»Read Full Blog Post